


cute neighbor chronicles

by jude__the__dude



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Arson, F/M, Fluff, Lesbian Emily Prentiss, M/M, Mentions of tattoos, Pining, Team Dynamics, because its my fic and i can do whatever i want, gender neutral reader, na na na boo boo, not much else tbh
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-13
Updated: 2020-12-06
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:48:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,642
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26981683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jude__the__dude/pseuds/jude__the__dude
Summary: you think your new neighbor is cute and spencer tries really hard to hide his jealousy.
Relationships: Spencer Reid & Reader, Spencer Reid/Reader, Spencer Reid/You
Comments: 6
Kudos: 94





	1. cute neighbor, jealous best friend, and arson?

“Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god.” You whispered to yourself as you locked the door behind you. You had just bumped into your new neighbor who you were dreading meeting, but you couldn’t believe you pushed it off for so long. 

He was so incredibly hot.

Dialing Garcia was the first thing that came to mind.

“Sweet cheeks! To what do I owe the pleasure?” She cheered.

“Garcie, you won’t believe who I just saw!” You exclaimed.

She hummed and shook her head even though she knew you couldn’t see her. “From your reaction, I’m guessing whoever it may be is incredibly hot.”

“Your guess would be correct.” You smiled, dropping your bag on the couch and taking your coat off. “Remember when I told you I’d be getting a new neighbor last week?”

“Yes!” She responded excitedly.

“I just saw him, and Garcie holy crap he is hot.”

“Oh my god y/n, you’re going to fall in love with your next door neighbor like a rom-com!” Garcia squealed into the phone.

“Hold your horses!” You laughed. “I met him less than five minutes ago.”

“Why did you wait so long to call me?”

“Shut up.” You huffed. “He’s crazy out of my league, but I can look respectfully.”

“That you can, mon amie. But I doubt he’s out of your league, hot stuff.” You heard the clicks of Garcia’s keyboard in the back as she spoke.

“Are you still at the office?” You had just come home after a long day of paperwork and you thought that the rest of your coworkers did the same, but apparently not.

“Yup, and good thing too. I just pulled up hot neighbor’s rap sheet.” 

“And did I ask you to do that?” You asked pointedly. The line stayed silent for a moment in lieu of an apology on Garcia’s side. “I don’t wanna know what you found. I barely know the guy's name, I don’t need to know that he stole something as a teenager or whatever.”

“His name is Richard Colson Baker, and as a matter of fact he did steal-”

“Uh uh.” You cut her off. “He’s cute and I like him. That’s all I need to know.”

“Honey bun, I won’t tell you he isn’t hot, because he definitely is, but he doesn’t seem like your type.” She said, but the phrasing was more like a question.

“What is my type exactly?”

“I don’t know, shaggy brown hair, smart, geeky, a doctor, has the first name Spencer and the last name Reid.” Garcia listed off the description of your one and only best-friend-and-crush.

“My type can vary!” You defended yourself as you placed your phone between your ear and your shoulder, filling up the kettle to make yourself some tea. “Besides, the crush on Spencer will fade at one point. Hopefully. ‘Cause we know I’m definitely not his type.”

Penelope scoffed at your chuckle, she never approved of your sometimes self deprecating humor. “y/n! Not only do you know that self deprecating humor is not allowed whatsoever when you are talking to me, but you know damn well you fit Spencer’s type to a T!”

“Well, if I did, don’t you think something would have happened between us by now?” You asked with a raised eyebrow. “It doesn’t matter anyways, I’ve gotten over the life sucking dread. And now I’ve got a boy toy to admire from afar. I’m good, Garcie. Now when are you gonna leave that stuffy dungeon of yours?”

“It is not stuffy! It’s cozy!”

:: :: ::

Patting down your pocket to make sure your badge was where it was supposed to be, you sighed in relief and unlocked your front door. Good thing you opted to wait and have coffee at the office because you bumped into someone as soon as you stepped out of your apartment.

“Oof!” You grunted, dropping your keys.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry!” You looked up and made eye contact with striking blue eyes somewhat hidden behind shaggy blonde hair. “Let me get that for you.”

Your neighbor, who you now knew as Richard thanks to Garcia, leaned down to pick your keys up giving you ample time to observe him. When you saw him last night, it was too dark to clearly see everything about him. 

His blonde hair was clearly dyed, the dark roots growing in at the top, but it looked good on him. He seemed a bit on the skinny side upon first glance, but his biceps were nice and toned. And you didn’t know eyes could be so blue!

Oh shit, eyes. That means he’s looking at you.

“Oh uh, thank you.” You accepted your keys, fingers brushing against his.

“No problem.” He smiled and you had to bite the inside of your cheek to not squeal at how gorgeous his smile was. “I’m Richard, your new neighbor, but I’m guessing you already knew that.”

You bit back the ‘I already know your name thanks to my best friend who's a technical analyst at the FBI’ and opted for: “I’m y/n, and yeah I did.”

“What gave it away?”

“Um maybe it was seeing you carrying your boxes up the stairs last night?” You said, phrasing it like a question to keep the conversation light. “Sorry I didn’t offer to help last night, I had a long day and I was just about ready to pass out.”

“No worries, I managed.” He shrugged. “But the elevator wouldn’t open for me, I’m glad we’re on the second floor and not any higher or else I wouldn’t have any clothes to wear.”

“Yeah, the elevator’s been down for two weeks now.” You replied. “It was supposed to be fixed last week, but they keep postponing it.” 

“Ugh, that sucks.” He shut his eyes and groaned. “I hate the stairs.”

“Don’t we all.” You chuckled. “Again, really sorry I didn’t offer to help last night.”

“It’s okay, really!” He chuckled. “Maybe you can show me around town or something, though? I only know how to get to work right now.”

“I’d love to.” You smiled. “But I’m not sure if I can, my work schedule is pretty hectic.”

“Yeah I saw your badge.” He pointed at your badge hanging off your pocket. “FBI huh?”

“Yup.” You gave him a tight lipped smile with the quick response. Not many people reacted super well to the description of your job, so you kept it simple. “Speaking of, I should probably get going.” You said as you pointed away from the two of you. “But it was nice talking to you!”

“You too.” He smiled wide. “Go bust drug cartels or whatever you do at the FBI.”

“I’ll tell you about it another time!”

After dropping off your coat and your bag at your desk, you rushed through making your coffee and dashed to Garcia’s office. Upon entering you saw Spencer was already there.

“Oh, hey Spence!” You smiled before turning to Garcia. “Garcie, hot neighbor update!”

“Cute Neighbor Chronicles!” She clapped. 

“What?”

“Yeah, I decided to give this topic of discussion a name. Hot Neighbor Chronicles doesn’t sound bad, but Cute Neighbor Chronicles sounds like a dime novel romance series.”

“It’s probably the alliteration.” Spencer pointed out. “The term alliteration was invented by the Italian humanist Giovanni Pontano to describe the practice common in Roman literature of beginning words or syllables with the same consonant or vowel. Also,” He cleared his throat and furrowed his eyebrows, “Hot neighbor?”

“Yeah, I was going to tell you today. I met my new neighbor last night and he’s super hot.”

“Definitely not what I thought y/n’s type was, but still really hot.” Garcia said as she pulled up his socials on her screens and you gave her a look. “What? None of his accounts are private and people look people up on social media all the time!”

Reid squinted as he leaned in closer to look at the pictures on screen. A few shirtless pictures at the beach, not that you weren’t expecting it but he had some nice abs, a really fancy car, and a huge group of friends. “Uh yeah, not what I thought your type was if I’m being honest.” 

“What’s up with everyone assuming what my type is?” You exclaimed, throwing your arms up. ‘I thought it was me’ was what Spencer wanted to say but he kept that part to himself. “Anyways,” You continued, “I bumped into him again this morning!”

“Tell me all the details!” Garcia cheered, taking a mental note of Spencer sulking over your enthusiasm.

“I apologized for not helping him with his boxes and he said maybe I can show him around to make it up.”

“And? What did you say?” Garcia asked, at the edge of her seat.

“Well, I told him the truth.” You shrugged. “I would love to, but I’ve got a hectic work schedule and I’m not sure I can.”

Garcie groaned and deflated while Spencer did the exact opposite. Again, very much noticed by Garcia and noted.

“Why?! Why would you pass up a date with a hot guy, y/n?!” Garcia chastised you.

You shrugged and made a vague ‘I don’t know’ sounding sigh. “In my defense, he never said it was a date.”

“Exactly, for all you know he has a girlfriend or something.” Spencer piped up, trying to hide his excitement of you refusing to go out with the guy and his hopefulness that he might be right.

:: :: ::

Tapping your foot the beat of the music flowing through your headphones, you didn’t hear your name being called out at the coffee shop.

“Hey, I think your coffee’s ready.” You heard someone say behind you as they tapped your shoulder. 

You turned and saw none other than Richard, your cute neighbor. “Richard?” Before you could get lost in conversation, you held a hand up and laughed. “Hold on, let me get my order.”

“I’ll meet you at the table by the window.” He nodded.

“Sure thing.” You said, before turning to pick up your order.

The cafe one block from work was your favorite place to have lunch. Spencer usually accompanied you, but JJ brought Henry to work today and Spencer couldn’t tear himself away.

You took your heated sandwich and whatever today’s fancy lemonade type refresher was and headed to the table by the window. “So, what brings you here?”

“I actually work just down the street. The tattoo place.” Richard told you, pointing to the general direction of his work place. “I’ve been going to all the cafes around here on my lunch break to see which one I like the most.”

“This one is my personal favorite.” You smiled, looking around you. “I come here everyday for lunch. Well, almost everyday.”

“That busy work schedule of yours, huh?” Richard recalled.

“Yup.” You nodded, tight lipped. You looked up at Richard and saw a hopeful smile on his face, you rolled your eyes lightheartedly with a chuckle. “You can ask, you know?”

“Can I?” He replied with a chuckle of his own. “How much can you tell me? I don’t know how the FBI works.”

“Well, what do you want to know?” You started.

“What’s your title?”

“Supervisory Special Agent y/n l/n.”

“What branch of the FBI do you work in?”

“The Behavioral Analysis Unit.” You replied and decided to elaborate when you saw the confusion on his face. “We study the lives of killers and their actions to figure what they do before they do it. If a police department thinks they’ve got a serial killer on their hands, they request our presence. We fly out all across the country every few days.” You kept the part about flying out on a jet to yourself. You didn’t want to jinx it.

“Holy shit, so you’ve seen like real serial killers before?”

“Yeah, my boss actually interviewed Ted Bundy.” You replied with a grin. “I always bug him about it.”

“That’s crazy!” Richard gasped, eyes wide. “Have you ever gotten shot?”

“I’ve been shot in my vest before, leaves a nasty bruise but nothing serious. Kind of like paintball, except not.” You replied with a grimace. “My best friend got shot one time though, it was pretty scary. The doctor told him he might never walk without crutches again. But he beat the odds and he gave me the screws that were in his knee.”

“That’s gross.” Richard scrunched his nose in disgust, but you saw the teasing smile he tried to hide.

“What? Some people have friendship bracelets, I have Spencer’s knee screws.” You giggled. “What about you? Why tattoo artist?”

“My dad wanted me to go to law school, and I said fuck that. I dyed my hair and pierced my nostril. That got me kicked out of the house.” He laughed but you gasped.

“Where’d you go?”

“I moved in with my best friend. He had this rudimentary tattoo gun that he made, I was playing around with it at a party one time. There were some kids who were drunk enough to let me tattoo them, and they didn’t turn out that bad. So I found an old sketchbook and filled it up. Made me a professional type portfolio.” He explained. “Showed up at my local tattoo parlor and surprisingly enough, they hired me on the spot. Did that for a few years during highschool-”

“Wait, you were in highschool?” Richard nodded. “How did they hire you at a tattoo parlor when you couldn’t even legally get a tattoo?”

“They never asked and I never said anything.” He shrugged and laughed at your shocked face. “I’m kidding! I’m kidding, I swear! They wouldn’t let me tattoo people at the parlor, I promise. I just designed tattoos for people. You know the ones they hang all over the walls at tattoo places?”

“Yeah.”

“I drew a bunch of those in my style.” He explained. “And if someone wanted something specific, I would design it for them.”

“So you must have been really good.” You raised your eyebrows, clearly impressed. Richard nodded with a bashful shrug. Before you could ask why he decided to move to D.C., his phone rang.

“Sorry, I gotta take this.” He smiled apologetically. “Hey Cass… No, I’m on my lunch break… What? Sweetheart, we’ve talked about this. You can’t slap people- Alright alright, I’m coming.” He looked down at his wrist watch and sighed. “I’ll be there in half an hour... Love you too, princess... Bye.”

“Maybe we can hang out some other time?” You offered when he hung up the phone. 

“Yeah, maybe I can meet your friend with the knee screws.” He chuckled.

“No, I’m the friend with the knee screws. He’s the friend without the knee screws.” You reminded him. Richard nodded with an exaggerated expression of understanding. Before he managed to gather his rubbish, you saw a familiar head of shaggy brown curls enter the cafe. Once he spotted you, a smile spread across his face and he headed your way. “Speak of the devil.”

“Hey, who is this?” Spencer asked once he reached your table.

“Spencer, this is Richard. He’s my new neighbor and he works at the tattoo shop down the street.” You introduced Richard with a flourish of your hand in his direction. “Richard, this is Spencer. My best friend and partner in crime. Well, fighting crime actually.”

“It’s nice to meet you, man.” Richard stood up from his seat and smiled at Spencer. “I’d love to stay and get to know you, but I’ve got somewhere I need to be.”

“No worries, we’ll see you later Richard.” You reassured him with a smile. He dropped off his napkins and his muffin liner on his way out of the door with a wave.

Spencer sat in the chair that Richard vacated moments prior and sagged in relief when the door chimed, signalling Richard’s departure.

“That’s your neighbor?”

“Yeah.” You sighed. “Isn’t he so hot?”

“Yes, when you take into consideration that proportionate facial symmetry is one of the biggest factors in finding a person's face attractive. Contrasting features, such as light eyes and dark hair, contribute to that as well.” Spencer explained. “Will came by the office to pick Henry up.”

“Of course. I think it’s nap time.” You nodded. “So, what do you wanna eat?”

You were back at the office within a half hour and you were ready to tell Garcia everything. This was the most you had spoken to Richard since you’d met him and you learned so much.

Once Spencer was safely deposited at his desk, you scurried over to a certain tech genius’s lair. In your hurry, you didn’t notice how everyone was missing from their desks. Shutting the door behind you as soon as you entered, you couldn’t see that all your team members were in Garcia’s (cramped) office. You had your eyes shut as you leaned heavily against the closed door, living your extreme rom-com fantasy.

“Crazy cute neighbor chronicles! Garcia, you won’t believe what happened!” The grin on your face quickly melted when you opened your eyes and saw one pair staring back in excitement and three pairs in confusion.

“Cute neighbor?” Derek asked.

“Chronicles?” Emily piped up.

“Is there something you haven’t been telling us, y/n?”

“y/n has a new neighbor who is incredibly hot and I’ve been keeping up with their love story, even though he’s got a record which y/n told me not to say out loud.” Garcia blurted out quickly.

You were suddenly bombarded with questions from three very angry friends of yours.

“You like a guy?”

“I thought we were close!”

“What does he look like?”

“Has he asked you on a date?”

“Where does he work?”

“When can we meet him?”

“Guys!” You called out over the overlapping voices, causing everyone to quiet down. “I’ll tell you all about it if you just calm down.” You laughed as they all sat back down, except for Derek who returned to his previous position that was leaning against Garcia’s chair, and went radio silent. “Okay, so I was having lunch at my usual place. I was listening to my music so I didn’t hear my name being called out. Suddenly, I feel a tap on my shoulder and it’s none other than Richard-”

“Her neighbor.” Garcia whispered to the audience who was new the story. 

“He heard my name being called and-”

“Wait.” JJ stopped you, confused. “Didn’t Spencer leave to go meet you at your lunch spot?”

“Yeah?” You replied.

“Oh my god, did he meet Richard?” Emily gasped, eyes wide.

“Again, yes. What’s going on?”

“Okay, how jealous was Reid on a scale of one to ten?” Derek asked.

Before you could answer, you heard the door open behind you. Spencer popped his head in and looked in confusion as he saw all his teammates crowded into Garcia’s little office.

“Hey guys.” He greeted everyone. “What’s going on?”

“We were talking about lunch.” Emily quickly answered.

“Yup, and how delicious it was!” Garcia piped up just as enthusiastically.

“Mhm, potato salad is my favorite.” JJ added, sounding incredibly unsure of herself.

“Uh, okay...” Spencer replied, not quite buying it. “Round table room. Five minutes.”

Once he ducked back out, everyone heaved out sighs of relief.

“I hate potato salad, why did I say that?”

:: :: ::

Walking into the bullpen with a slight frown and sore muscles caught a certain Derek Morgan’s attention. His eyes went bright and wide as he approached you with his coffee cup in hand.

“Good morning.” He grinned. “Long night.”

“You can say that.” You mumbled, dropping your bag on your seat and heading to the kitchen to fix yourself a cup of coffee. You always said that the bad coffee at the office did a better job of waking you up than anything actually good.

“Damn! y/n finally getting some.” Derek cheered just as Garcia entered the kitchen with Spencer.

You groaned and shook your head as you leaned forward on your toes to grab a mug from the top shelf. “I am doing no such thing.”

The act caused you to stretch and reveal the skin of your neck. “That hickey on your neck says otherwise. I bet it was cute neighbor guy.”

Spencer glided up behind you and grabbed a mug for you. You smiled at him gratefully and turned back to Morgan with a hand on your neck. “It’s not a hickey, Derek. It’s a bruise. I’ve got thirty others all over me.”

“Are you okay?” Spencer asked with concern. “What happened?”

“I fell down the stairs yesterday.” You sighed and grimaced. “My neighbor helped me.”

“Oh my god! Cute neighbor?” Garcia gasped.

“The one and only,” you nodded with raised brows, “and his girlfriend.” You pouted as you walked back to your desk, knowing that everyone was following you. “Spencer, if you say ‘I told you so’, I will punch you.”

“I wasn’t going to!” He retaliated with his arms up in surrender. “But I kind of did tell you so, I mean.”

You sent him a glare as Garcia whispered loudly to JJ and Emily who were chatting by the water cooler. “Cute Neighbor Chronicles!” They all quickly gathered around your desk to hear the latest update. Even Spencer, which was odd. Spencer never liked to listen to your neighbor stories, even though he was undoubtedly the closest to you on the team. He had even met Richard that time at the cafe.

It had been about two weeks since your neighbor moved in and you had been updating the entire team on every interaction ever since they caught you in Garcia’s office. Spencer was always in earshot, but he never participated like the rest of the team. Derek and Garcia loved the gossip, but JJ and Emily mostly enjoyed analysing your neighbor’s behaviour and the way he phrased his sentences.

So far you have gathered from their analysis that he had a strained relationship with his parents, is spiritual but not religious, and that he could be a father or father figure to a little girl.

“Come on, spill Hot Stuff.” Derek urged you on.

You rolled your eyes and slumped in your desk chair, groaning at the embarrassing memory. “I was going up the stairs to my apartment with two bags full of groceries.”

“Oh, did you-”

“Yes, I got you the pudding you like. You don’t have to ask every time Spence, you know I always do.” You said before continuing your retelling of last night’s events. “And then my neighbor’s front door opens to reveal Cute Neighbor and the hottest woman I’ve seen in my entire life.”

“Excuse me!” Emily gasped and you waved her off.

“I went over to say hi, but I didn’t notice the wet floor sign right next to me. I toppled down the stairs all the way to the landing, and they came rushing over to help me. He gathered my groceries,” You turned to point at Spencer, “which are fine by the way, and she helped me up. She introduced herself as his girlfriend.”

“His girlfriend?” Emily asked.

You nodded.

“Really? ‘Cause he was totally flirting with you last week.” JJ says.

“I thought so, too. But I guess he’s just a flirty person.” You shrugged. 

“If she introduced herself as his girlfriend, that means they’re serious enough where she doesn’t have to question it.“ Emily pointed out.

“What about body language?” Derek asked you.

“Average relationship body language.” You shrugged as you looked back at the scene in front of the elevator. “Slightly leaning towards each other at all times, one hand on the other whenever possible. She didn’t seem threatened by me, so she trusts him.”

“That probably means they’ve been together for a while.” JJ replied before she gasped. “Oh my god, maybe she’s moving in!”

“I think she is.” You groaned, dropping your head into your hands. “And what sucks is that she’s so nice. Like, I wanna hate her but I can’t.”

“I get that.” Emily nodded. “You remember that ex I told you about? Where she said she wanted to stay friends?” Everyone nodded. “She got a new girlfriend a couple weeks ago and she’s the coolest person ever.”

“I don’t think anyone’s cooler than you, Em.” You smiled. 

“Flattery will get you nowhere, y/n.” Emily smirked.

“Oh really?” You raised an eyebrow at her. “Cause it seems like I’ve already got you wrapped around my finger.”

“You know,” Garcia mused out loud, “I can always look into her-”

“No.” You interrupted Garcia, not wanting her to beat you to it like last time. “Do not background check her, Garcie!”

“But what if-” Spencer was quick to defend Garcia’s choice of actions.

“No.” You glared at Spencer. “I know you read his file, and I don’t care what’s on there. Did he hurt anyone?”

“No, but-”

“Then I don’t care.” You shrugged. “I can like a bad boy.”

Derek burst out laughing at that. “Oh no, now you’re just lying to yourself. We all know you love a goody two shoes.”

You humphed and stuck your tongue out at him when everyone joined him in laughter. “Well, it doesn’t matter anyways. He’s in a relationship. Guess I’m gonna be alone forever.”

“Don’t worry baby cakes, plenty of fish in the sea.” Derek patted your shoulder.

“But I wanted that fish.” You pouted.

Hotch’s deep voice interrupted the conversation. “Wheels up in twenty, debrief on the jet.” Everyone quickly abandoned the conversation to fetch their go bags.

:: :: ::

Spencer sat next to you on the jet like he always did. The case was two hours away, so you had more than enough time to debrief and discuss theories before you had nothing else to discuss. Bouncing theories and ideas off of everyone on the team could only work for so long without evidence.

The case surrounded a series of fires in a small town in Missouri. 

“So what are you thinking?” You asked. You and Spencer liked to brainstorm with each other on cases, especially when it came to minute details that probably meant nothing. It was a good way to keep your brain working during lulls in cases, and you always begged Spencer to do this with you. It was an insight into the way his brain worked and Spencer’s brain was the most fascinating thing in the world to you.

“I don’t know.” He hummed. “Arsonists are most likely to be male, but I don’t think this one is.”

“Why is that?”

“You saw the rope that was used to keep the door shut?” You nodded. “That isn’t a rope tying technique, not the kind they teach boy scouts. It’s a technique used for sewing, but obviously on a larger scale.”

“So a girl scout then?” You supplied. 

“Possibly, but we still have so much more evidence to examine when we arrive.” He stayed quiet for a few moments after that last sentence before piping up. “You-”

When he didn’t continue, you raised an eyebrow at him. Spencer never held anything back in front of you. You made sure he knew not to. So what was that?

“What?”

“Nothing, it’s not important.” He blurted out quickly.

“No, tell me.”

“I was going to say: you know an arsonist, why not ask him? But I decided against it.” Spencer rushed through his words.

“Good, cause that’s super passive aggressive.” You weren’t hurt or anything, but you and Spencer were open about emotions with each other. You knew that if you were honest with each other, no feelings could truly be hurt.

“Yeah, I figured.” He winced. “Sorry, even though I didn’t actually say it.”

“It’s okay.” You sighed and leaned back in your seat. “Also, I don’t know an arsonist.”

“Actually-” Spencer stopped himself again, his eyes wide.

You furrowed your eyebrows in thought before you gasped. “Oh my god, is Richard an arsonist?” Spencer looked between his hands and the floor before nodding. “I could have lived my life without knowing that, you know?”

“I know, it’s why I didn’t say anything!” He retaliated. 

“You didn’t say it with your mouth, but you said with all your other body parts. I told you not to read his file.” You groaned. 

“You know I couldn’t help myself.” Spencer backtracked and his shoulders dropped, probably relieved that he didn’t actually say anything and you figured it out by yourself. That’s what you thought, but it was actually Spencer replaying your words from that morning. “Like you said, it doesn’t matter anyways. He’s in a relationship.” If he recalls correctly, which he always does, you followed that with ‘guess I’m gonna be alone forever.’ Spencer wasn’t one to wish, but he truly wished you were wrong on that one.

“Why do you have to be so obvious about everything, Spencer?”

Spencer couldn’t help but think, if he was so obvious about everything, did you know? Did you know he likes you?

:: :: ::

The case only took two days to solve, but you didn’t sleep a wink during those forty eight hours and Spencer was concerned. As you trudged up the stairs onto the jet, you felt Spencer’s hand rest on your shoulder and slowly lead you to the couch.

You sat down and pulled out a couple files from your bag.

“Gimme those.” 

You looked up at Spencer with wide questioning eyes. “What? Why?”

“You’re not doing any paperwork, you are going to sleep.”

“But I-”

“y/n, do you want me to tell you how damaging it is for your brain to stay awake for so long?” Spencer asked you with raised eyebrows. “I didn’t think so. I’ll start off your paperwork.”

“No it’s okay, Spence-” You began before you felt the tiredness set into your bones. “You know what? Go at it. Don’t wake me up until we land.”

“What if there’s an emergency?” Spencer asked teasingly.

“You’re a big boy, you can handle yourself.”

“What if I’m dying?”

“Then die.” You sighed, placing your head on the arm rest and passing out.

Spencer chuckled to himself and sat in the seat closest to you. He grabbed his favorite pen, one Penelope had given him on their friendiversary two years prior, and set to work on your paperwork and his.

Derek, and everyone else for that matter, saw the scene that just took place. It was the perfect time to confront him about his feelings, he decided. He just had to wait until he was sure you were knocked out.

“Hey Emily.” Derek called out quietly, he was sure you were asleep at this point but he didn’t want to wake you.

“Yeah?”

“I’ve been thinking, y/n was pretty bummed out about the hot neighbor guy.” Derek made eye contact with Emily and knew that she was on the same page.

“I noticed!” She replied. “I’ve got this friend who is totally y/n’s type though, maybe I should set them up?”

“Definitely.” Derek smirked, seeing Spencer tense up. “What do you think, Spencer?”

“Well um, the thing with the neighbor was never meant to go anywhere.” Spencer said. “Garcia and y/n were saying something about ‘looking respectfully’, I’m guessing that means admiring from afar. y/n also turned him down when he asked to be shown around town.”

“I’m sure you were really happy about that, weren’t you?” JJ teased.

“What?” Spencer asked, voice much higher than usual. “I’m not sure I understand what you mean.”

“This is stupid, we all know he’s never gonna admit it.” Rossi said while keeping his eyes on the case file he had in hand.

“Admit what?” Spencer asked frantically, he looked around the jet only to see everyone looking back at him.

“Spencer, you work with a team full of profilers. I’m surprised y/n hasn’t found out about your feelings already.” Hotch replied coolly, enjoying Spencer’s distress more than he wanted to admit.

Spencer sighed and shut his eyes. “I’m not really good at hiding things like this.”

“Yeah we know, kid.” Derek chuckled. “So what are you gonna do about it?”

“Ooh, are you gonna make a big romantic gesture?” JJ cooed. “That would be so cute.”

“That’s more Garcia than Spencer, don’t you think?” Emily said to JJ.

“Yeah, I suppose you’re right.” JJ shrugged. “y/n is more private about these kinds of things.”

“Maybe you can do something during one of your chess dates.” Derek suggested. 

“Or your movie dates.” JJ added.

“Or your park dates.” Hotch smirked.

“Okay okay, I get it.” Spencer huffed. “I’ll do something, just don’t be so obvious about it.”

“I think you should be saying that to yourself.” Rossi chuckled.

:: :: ::

Rushing home as soon as the jet landed, Spencer was both nervous and excited to finally be doing something about his feelings for you. Well, not exactly.

One year ago (one year, ten months, three days, six hours, and twenty nine minutes ago), Spencer realized that he harbored major feelings for you. Like, really major. You had only been friends for a month at that point, but he knew. He researched for hours on the different ways of telling someone you love them and one common way was to give them a gift with the confession.

You loved gifts, Spencer knew this of course, so he set out to find the perfect one. He found a small shop downtown that made custom jewellery, he visited the store nine times before finally deciding on a design.

The old man behind the counter, John, told him that simplicity went a long way. A small gold locket on a thin chain is what he ended up purchasing. On the inside was a picture of the two of you taken by Garcia, she had managed to snap the picture without either of you noticing. It was at Rossi’s house, you and Spencer retired to the couch after dinner and you ended up falling asleep. Your cheek was on his shoulder and his head was on yours, one of his arms was wrapped loosely around your waist. Facing the photograph on the other side of the locket was Spencer’s handwriting etched into the gold. 

ily ♡

You had taught him the acronym and you sent it to him all the time. Every conversation you had ended with an ‘I love you’ and it made him, as Garcia liked to call it, warm and fuzzy inside.

The necklace took a whole week to finish and Spencer couldn’t contain his excitement. At this point, he was prepared to take it from the shop and immediately head to your place. But as soon as the jewelry box was placed into his hands, his heart sank.

Was this too much too soon?

Did you only love him as a friend?

Would you laugh in his face at the absurdity of him thinking you actually returned his feelings?

So Spencer went home and shoved the necklace in the back of the closet and tried his hardest to forget about it.

Until today.

He tore through his apartment like a raccoon on steroids as he tried to find the box. It was, of course, exactly where he left it. At the very back of his closet. He quickly dusted off the top and placed it in his messenger bag. He was doing this tonight.

Spencer’s surprised he didn’t fall on his face as he ran up the stairs to your door, the elevator was still down but he didn’t mind because he was faster. He skidded to a stop four inches before your welcome mat.

And he froze.

Again.

He pulled out the little box from his bag and opened it, he took the locket out and traced his finger against the smooth oval. He used his nail to crack it open and stared at the picture inside. You’re going to love it, he knows that.

But you were so tired on the jet, maybe he should try this another day. You were probably asleep anyways, so it wouldn’t be the best time. And you really need your sleep, the human body needs four days of six to eight hours of sleep to fully recover from one hour of lost sleep. He’s give it to you tomorrow for sure, during movie night and-

“Hey, Spencer right?” Spencer quickly dropped the necklace into the box and snapped it closed, shoving it back into his bag. He turned to look behind him and met eyes with the one and only Richard. “It’s late, are you staying over at y/n’s?”

“No, actually I was just leaving.” Spencer said, looking down and seeing Richard wearing tennis shoes with the laces untied. “You should really tie your laces. Researchers studied the cases of three thousand children brought into the emergency room of Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Sixty seven percent of the cases were attributed to untied shoelaces. Granted you aren’t a child, but anything could happen and it’s better to be safe than sorry.”

Richard furrowed his brows and bent down to tie his shoelaces. “I guess so.”

Spencer nodded with a tightlipped smile on his face. “Well I uh better get going.”

“Yeah yeah, see you around Spencer.” Richard nodded, switching up his position to tie the laces on his other shoe.

“Yeah, see you around.”

Spencer took no time to rush down the stairs, and as he did so, Richard caught a glimpse of something in the corner of his eye. 

Richard picked up the necklace on the ground as he stood back up. He cracked the locket open and saw the picture of you and Spencer inside and the engraved acronym. “Hey Spencer! I think you dropped this!”

Richard ran down the stairs only to see that Spencer was long gone.

He pocketed the necklace with a shrug. Oh well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i really hope you liked this part! next part is mostly written, so this shouldn't take long to update! as usual, feedback is greatly appreciated :)
> 
> much love, jude
> 
> p.s. if u know who my oc is based on (even tho i literally did nothing to hide it lol) we are now best friends. sorry, i dont make the rules ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯


	2. a missing locket, major feels, and whats happening on wednesday?

You sighed in relief as you pushed your chair away from your desk, rolling your neck to relieve the tense muscles. You grabbed your bag and began to pack up your things for the night. The only people left at the office other than you were Spencer, Derek, and of course Hotch.

“You heading out, sweet cheeks?” Derek asked when he clocked you packing up.

“You know it.” You nodded. “I really need this weekend.”

“Got plans?”

“Sleep! All the sleep I can get.” You cheered and turned to look at Spencer at his desk across from you. “And of course, today is movie night with Spencer. Would you like to join?”

“Nah it’s alright, I’ve got some plans tonight.” Derek smirked.

“I don’t think I want to know what those are.” You chuckled and turned to Spencer. “Should I wait up, Spence?”

“No, that’s okay.” Spencer smiled and waved you off. “I’ve got another hour of paperwork and then I’ll come over.”

Spencer rarely had more paperwork than you, today was only different because he managed to finish all the paperwork you had for the arsonist case. You begged him to take a couple files off his stack, but he always refused. You decided you would let him pick one of his long foreign movies tonight as a thank you.

“Don’t take too long, you know you’re picking tonight.” You reminded him as you stood up and pushed your chair in. “See you on Monday, Derek.”

“See you, sweet cheeks!” Derek waved, watching you walk through the bullpen, past the glass doors, and onto the elevator. 

It was about an hour later when Derek finally finished up the last of his paperwork for the day. He cracked his knuckles and leaned back in his chair to observe Spencer. “So what do you have planned for tonight?”

“What?” Spencer looked at Derek inquisitively. “I’ve got movie night with y/n, weren’t you listening?”

“Of course I was listening.” Derek scoffed and rolled his eyes. “So you’re doing it tonight, right?”

“Maybe.” Spencer mumbled, ducking back down to try and focus on his paperwork.

“My man!” Derek cheered, smacking Spencer on the back with a little too much force. “Whatchya got? Candles? Roses? A limo?”

“A necklace, actually.” Spencer hummed, trying to appear nonchalant. It was actually working, surprisingly. “Got it personalized.”

“Who knew Dr. Spencer Reid could be such a romantic?” Derek smiled. “Can I see it?”

Spencer hesitated for a moment, this was a special gift from him to you, did he really want someone else to be privy to such a private thing? 

But then again, Derek was one of his closest friends and also one of yours. He would hope that if you accepted his present, you would want to show it off to your friends. 

“Yeah, just a second it’s in here somewhere.” Spencer rummaged through his bag before pulling out the small jewelry box. Derek leaned forward to get a closer look. Both of them held their breath as Reid snapped the box open only to reveal…

Nothing.

“What?” Spencer asked, possibly more confused than Derek. “It was in here yesterday, where could it have gone?”

“Did you take it out of the box?” Derek asked.

“Yeah, last night. I was at y/n’s apartment, I didn’t go in though. Sleep is really important and it was already midnight and-”

“Kid!” Derek cut him off. “So you had it out of the box when you were at y/n’s door?”

“Yes.” Spencer nodded.

“Then what happened?”

“Richard, y/n’s neighbor, walked out of his apartment.” Reid recalled. “I put the necklace in the box and I put the box back in my bag.”

“Did you put the necklace in properly? Like on those little hooks and-”

“I know how jewelry boxes work, Morgan.” Spencer snapped. “To answer your question, no I did not put it in properly.”

“Then you clearly don’t know how jewelry boxes work!” Derek replied, throwing his hands up in exasperation. “If you don’t put the necklace on the little hook things, it isn’t secure. You probably dropped it at y/n’s door!”

“I have to go see if it’s still there.” Spencer gasped.

“Go!” Derek tried to keep his voice level, but he was pretty sure even Hotch could hear him now. Spencer quickly grabbed his bag and his coat and ran out of the bullpen. “I’ll do your damn paperwork. Yeah no, my pleasure.” Derek scoffed as he grumbled to himself “You’d think someone that smart wouldn’t be such an idiot.”

:: :: ::

You had just changed into some comfortable clothes when you heard a knock at the door. Wow, Spencer was getting quicker at paperwork with every passing day. “Didn’t think you’d be here- Richard?”

“Hey.” Richard smiled and nodded. “How are you?”

“I’m good.” You nodded, a confused expression still on your face. “How can I help you?”

“Actually, I came here to give you something.” Richard began, stuffing a hand down his pocket to fish something out. “Your boyfriend dropped it by your door late last night.”

Woah. Many things to unpack in that sentence. What boyfriend? He was here last night? At your door? How late? Holy shit, do you have a stalker?

“Boyfriend?” You asked.

“Uh, yeah?” Now it was Richard’s turn to be confused. “Tall lanky guy? Super smart? Told me the statistics of getting hurt if I didn’t tie my shoelaces? The one I met at the cafe?”

“Oh, you mean Spencer.” You sighed in relief. Phew, no stalker.

“Yeah, Spencer.” Richard nodded slowly, finally pulling out the item in question from his pocket. “Your boyfriend.”

“Spencer’s just my friend, not my boyfriend.” You laughed, accepting the necklace from Richard. “But thank you for this, I’ll make sure he gets it.”

“No problem.” Richard smiles, turning to head back to his own apartment. “But I don’t know, that doesn’t seem like something I’d be giving someone who’s ‘just a friend.’”

Before you had time to react or even say anything, Richard was already in his apartment. You looked down into your palm at the golden locket as you closed the door. Your thumb traced the edge of the oval as you admired it. Of course you were curious to see what was inside, but you weren’t nosy.

Okay, maybe a little bit nosy. But if this was a romantic type of present, as Richard had insinuated, then you didn’t want to expose Spencer before he told you himself. You weren’t even sure if he was interested in anyone romantically. You didn’t want to dwell on the subject matter, so you placed the necklace on your nightstand in your bedroom and proceeded with the usual movie night preparations.

As you popped the popcorn bag into the microwave, your brain couldn’t help but wander back to the necklace. It could be that pretty blonde that worked on the ground floor, she always waved at the both of you when you left for your lunch break. But Reid never mentioned her. You tried to push the thoughts away once more.

As you dialed the number for the pizza place, you thought back to what Richard said. Spencer was at your door last night? You don’t remember hearing any knocking, and he didn’t leave you any texts or missed calls. Did he just come to the door and leave? The pizza place wouldn’t have the answer, but they also wouldn’t stay on a line where the customer didn’t speak.

You busied yourself with getting out all the fuzzy blankets in the closet, getting the drinks ready, and anything else you could think of. Movie nights with Spencer were usually more laid back than this, but buzzing around your apartment was the only thing keeping you from opening that locket.

When the doorbell rang, you were crouched down with your mini vacuum trying to catch all the dust bunnies under your couch. 

“Must be the pizza.” You muttered to yourself, another sign of nervousness, as you tucked the handheld vacuum back in the cupboard and headed to the door. You peered through the peephole and, just like you said, there was the pizza man.

You opened the door with your wallet in hand. You handed him a few bills and told him to keep the change. When the man turned to leave, you saw someone crouched on the ground.

“Spencer?” 

He looked up from his position on the ground with an awkward smile. “Uh hey, y/n.”

“Hey?” You laughed. “What are you doing on the floor?”

“I uh- I lost something, and the last time I saw it I was here.” He explained, picking up Richard’s welcome mat with the nail of his index finger. Good thing you kept a couple bottles of hand sanitizer around.

“Oh, you mean the necklace!” You exclaimed, not noticing the color draining out of his face. “Come in, I’ve got it in my room.”

You held the door open for him as he stood up and walked over to you. You grabbed a bottle of hand sanitizer and motioned for Spencer to open his palms. You squirted some into his hands as well as yours after you locked the door. “Richard knocked on my door like ten minutes after I came home, said he found it by the door. He said you told him the dangers of not tying his shoelaces?”

“Uh yeah, that sounds like me.” Spencer mumbled. “Did you- did you see it?”

“Yeah it’s really cute.” You smiled, Spencer following close behind you to your bedroom. “Is it custom made?”

“Yes, I had it made a long time ago.” Spencer replied, confused by your reaction. 

You were more excited when he gave you half of his muffin that time last week. Did you really not care about the necklace?

“Aw, who’s it for?” You asked, picking up the necklace and placing it gently into Spencer’s awaiting hands.

“What?”

You looked up and made eye contact with Spencer, confusion evident on both of your faces. “Is it for you? Never pegged you for a jewelry type of guy.”

“What? No, it’s a gift.” Spencer replied. “I thought you said you saw it?”

“I did.” You nodded pointedly. “I’m seeing it right now, Spencer. I don't understand.”

“Did you not open it?”

“No, that would be an invasion of privacy.” You answered. “Why is this-”

“It’s for you.”

Your eyes widened as they quickly travelled from Spencer to the gold locket draped over his fingers. “For me?”

“Yes.” 

When you didn’t say anything, Spencer’s palms began to sweat and his breathing became faster. “Did you know that it takes around two hundred hours of shared time to consider someone to be your best friend? We’ve spent much more than two hundred hours together, what with work and jet rides and cases across the country. But if you would only like to consider the time we spend together off the job, it would still be much more than two hundred hours. We’ve been friends for one year, eleven months, nine days, twelve hours,” Spencer quickly looked down at the watch on his wrist, “and thirty four minutes. The amount of time we have spent together is immeasurable, even for me. Especially for me, because when I spend time with you I don’t want to count. I have never, in my life, lost track of time, unless it was with you. Some couples say that it took them eight weeks to fall in love with each other, though some admit to it being lust-”

“Lust?” You gasped. “Spencer-”

“I fell in love with you in four.” He blurted out before you could continue, heaving as if he had just run a marathon. “I fell in love with you in four weeks.”

Your wide eyes were now staring at the floor, darting back and forth way too quickly for Spencer’s liking. You were thinking. Hard. A single tear fell out of your right eye, trailing down your cheek. Spencer instinctively reached out to brush it away, he almost pulled back, afraid that you were angry at him, but you sighed and leaned into his hand when you felt it’s warmth. Spencer’s profiling skills usually flew out the window when it came to things like this, but he heard a small voice in his head yelling that this was a good thing.

“Can I see it?” You asked, looking at the locket.

“Of course.” Spencer whispered back, taking the locket in his free hand and prying it open. 

You smiled when you saw the picture inside. “I love that picture.”

“Yeah, so do I.” Spencer smiled with you. “Do you want to wear it?” You nodded. “Do you want me to put it on?”

“Yes, please.” You sniffled as you turned around and cleared the back of your neck of any obstructions. As the necklace hung against your chest, open, you admired the inside. “Is that your handwriting?”

“Yes.” Spencer responded, now turning you to face him. “Do you like it?”

You looked into his eyes and smiled, tears blurring your vision. You didn’t answer, simply pulling him towards you with both hands on his cheeks and placing his lips against yours.  
“Of course I do.” You answered him, forehead pressed against his. “It was four for me too.”

“What?”

“I realized that I was in love with you four weeks after we had met.” You sighed sadly. “All this time, and we could have just told each other.”

“We’ve got all the time in the world to make it up.”

:: :: ::

“That’s a really pretty necklace, sweet cheeks.” Derek smirked at you when he walked into the cramped kitchenette of the BAU. The weekend came and went and it was… eventful to say the least. “Where’d you get it?”

“This guy.” You said as you tried really hard (and failed) to hide your smile.

“Oh really?” Your coworker quirked up a brow. “Do I know this guy by any chance?”

“You might.” You shrugged, tucking the coffee pot back into its designated spot. “I don’t know everyone you know, Derek.”

“Aw come on, don’t play with me.” Derek chuckled, letting a more genuine smile spread over his face. “I’m glad he found it.”

“Actually, my neighbor did.”

“Wha-”

“That’s a story for another time, Morgan. If I recall correctly, I noticed an absurdly large pile of paperwork on your desk when I walked in.” You sauntered out of the kitchen with your mug of coffee in hand and walked away from the scene, leaving a confused and dejected Derek behind. 

He forgot he told Spencer he would take care of his paperwork that night. Well, at least it worked out.

Throughout the day, the team definitely didn’t miss the lingering stares between you and Reid. You were both incredibly joyful and very blushy. Garcia had her suspicions, but no solid proof. You hadn’t told her about anything happening recently. But that necklace was definitely new, and what screamed romance louder than a locket.

An investigation was afoot.

Garcia called in JJ and Emily to her cave first via taking control of their screens, opening up a word document, and writing in capital letters to ‘MEET AT MY OFFICE IMMEDIATELY.’ Seventy two point, pink, and cursive. Obviously.

Both women left their respective desks five minutes apart, JJ followed by Emily, and convened in Garcia’s office.

“So, you’ve noticed it too.” JJ spoke as soon as Emily closed the door behind her. “What do you think happened during the weekend?”

“He fessed up. He had to, right? What else would elicit such a response from both of them.” Emily responded.

“And the necklace! You saw the necklace, didn’t you?” Garcia exclaimed in a hushed whisper. She’s been told on many occasions that she spoke too loudly when excited, so she was trying her hardest to keep it quiet. “A locket is not the kind of necklace someone buys for themselves.”

“It definitely isn’t.” Emily agreed with raised eyebrows. “It’s clear something happened, so why did you call us in here and not them.”

“Because y/n didn’t tell me anything.” Garcia sighed, clearly crestfallen. “You know y/n called me two seconds after meeting hot neighbor? Two seconds! So if something big happened betwixt the two love birds, why was I not informed?”

“I’m sure there’s an explanation, Garcia. We all know how close you and y/n are, and I doubt this has anything to do with you specifically.” JJ reassured her with a gentle pat on the shoulder. “They’ll tell us in time.”

“But they must know that we all know already, right?” Emily asked. “They keep sneaking looks at each other and smiling and blushing. It’s not like they’re trying hard to hide it. Maybe they think we already know.” 

“But y/n always tells me all the details.” Garcia slumped in her seat before she straightened up and flapped her hands at her two friends. “Begone then I supposed, if you have no information I can use.”

JJ raised her eyebrows and scoffed. “Okay, Ms. Drama Queen.”

“Yeah, later gator.” Emily chuckled. “See you ladies for lunch.”

“Oh yes, let’s go to the Thai place.” Garcia clapped her hands as JJ opened the door for Emily.

“Oh no, hun.” Emily smiled. “You don’t shoo us out of your office and then choose where we’re having lunch.”

“Yeah, definitely not.” JJ laughed in agreement. “I’m choosing today.”

“Fine.” Garcia groaned. “But tell me if you hear anything about them, alright?”

“You know it.”

And just like that, Garcia was left to her own devices. And that woman loved her devices. So she used them.

She pulled up your phone’s GPS history from the last three days. It showed you at the office on Friday until nine, and then you drove home. But then after… there was nothing. You went to the store on saturday afternoon, but that was it. Hmm.

Next she checked Reid’s. With Reid, it was a bit tricker. It always was when it came to anything digital. Sometimes he would head to the library and forget his personal phone, which was easier to track. Not that his work phone was hard, per se, it was just so old. But alas, she knew he always at least had his work phone on him. So she pulled up his GPS history. Office on friday, then his place. Then yours! How exciting… 

But then nothing again. Ugh. More like how frustrating. It showed that he stayed at your apartment for a few hours, but then he left. He stayed home on Saturday, and he seemed to visit a coffee shop the next day. So you only met once that weekend? Do you really not tell Garcia anything because… Because nothing happened? 

Well, it’s clear that something did happen. What with the necklace and the longing stares. Ugh! This was exhausting and she couldn’t just pull up any kind of history from your brain, so there was only one thing she could do.

Garcia got out of her chair and stomped out of her office all the way to the bullpen. Pushing open the glass doors, she peered through her pink and red glasses until she locked eyes with her target. She continued her stomping all the way to the desk in question and grabbed the occupant by the ear (gently) and pulled them to her office.

She pushed her coworker into her spare chair and glared. “Spill. Now.”

:: :: ::

After your quick trip to the washroom, you came to a bullpen that was sans Reid and only Reid. That was… abnormal? You wanted to check if he went to refill his coffee, but his mug was still half full and on his desk. And his cardigan was hanging off his chair. So was his satchel. He always took his satchel if he was called to Hotch’s in case he was given papers he had to take home. So where could he be?

“Hey guys?” Derek and Emily, the closest to you, lifted their heads from their paperwork and watched as you sat down. “Where’d Reid go?”

“Garcia kidnapped him.” Emily replied casually, going back to her work. 

Derek nodded and looked back down. “Yup, made a show of it too. Grabbed his ear and pulled him outta here.”

“That does sound like she kidnapped him.” You replied with a hum. “Should I- should we be worried?”

“Give it another ten minutes, then I’d be worried.” Derek said, eyeing the clock on the wall.

Suddenly, a shriek came from Garcia’s general vicinity and you all perked up. That was the trademarked Garcia Shriek of Excitement. 

“I say five.” Emily retorted.

“Yeah, no I’m going there now.” You pushed yourself out of your seat with your eyes glued on the glass doors. You speed walked out of the bullpen, knowing that nothing was urgent but also knowing that this was definitely about you and Reid.

You really didn’t mean to eavesdrop, you truly didn’t. But the door wasn’t fully closed and you could hear them before you reached your destination.

“Of course I do!” Reid gasped at Garcia.

“But does y/n know that?” She asked.

“Ye- I mean, I hope y/n knows. How couldn’t- Garcia, it literally says it in the necklace. Besides, we say it to each other all the time.” Reid defended himself. You were glad they actually were talking about you, otherwise you would have been embarrassed.

At Reid’s mention of the necklace, you smiled to yourself and cracked it open to bask in the engraving. 

ily ♡

Of course you knew.

“But saying ‘I love you’ to someone as a friend is galaxies away from saying it to someone you’ve confessed your feelings to. I totally understand if you’re not ready yet, I mean you only told y/n two days ago. It would make sense to wait, but you seem so sure. So why not say it?”

“I’m-” Reid sighed and you could almost see his shoulders slump. “I’m scared.”

“Spencer.” Garcia cooed. “There’s nothing to be scared of. It’s y/n.”

“It’s the love of my life who I’m terrified won’t love me as much as I love them.”

The only possible way to describe your emotions when you heard those were guilt. You felt so guilty. Did he truly think you didn’t love him as much as he loved you? You knew for a fact that you loved him more, so much more in fact. A crazy amount of more.

You decided against barging into Garcia’s office and retreated slowly back to the bullpen. As you walked, you pulled your phone out of your pocket and scrolled through your contact list to make a quick call.

“Hey, I hope I’m not calling at a bad time.” You spoke as soon as the other person on the line picked up.

“No, you’re all good. Did you need anything?”

“Yes, actually. I need a favor.”

“Anything.”

“Can I book an appointment with you? It’s nothing urgent and I don’t want a discount or anything, but I didn’t know who else to call.”

“No worries, I got you. Is Wednesday good? I’ve got a spot open during your lunch break.”

“That’s perfect! I’ll call if I get called out and I can’t come, is that okay?”

“You’ve got unlimited postponements on me.”

“Thanks, I owe you. See you Wednesday?”

“Wednesday.”

Spencer walked up to you moments before you ended the call, catching the tail end of your conversation. “What’s happening on Wednesday?”

“I’ve got an appointment. Will you come with me?” You asked. Reid picked up on the hopefulness of your tone and nodded enthusiastically. “It’s not far and we’ll be back before our lunch break even ends.”

“What’s it for?”

“That is for me to know and you to find out.” You smirked and watched as he playfully rolled his eyes. “I actually came out here to look for you, Emily said that you were kidnapped by Garcia. Do I need to go avenge you and steal a figurine or something?”

“No, that’s okay. Garcia was just… being Garcia, I suppose.” Spencer shrugged, allowing you to loop your arm through his as you walked down the hallway from Garcia’s office to the bullpen. “She says she likes your locket, though.”

“She does?” You gasped with a smile and Spencer nodded, a pleased smile on his face. “That’s not surprising, only the person with the utmost level of taste gave it to me.” Spencer’s face immediately flushed pink and his eyebrows flew up to his hairline. “I’m serious Spencer, I love it. In fact, I’m never taking it off.”

“Never?” He asked, amused but still very very flushed from all the attention.

“Never ever ever. You’ve got my word.” You promised.

“What about if you need to take it off?” He asked.

“Like when?”

“At the security check at an airport, for example. Or if you needed to get an MRI.”

“Then I’d just give it to you for safe keeping.” You concluded, slowly pulled away from him as you approached the glass doors. You leaned forward and opened the door for Spencer to step in first. “So, Wednesday?”

“Yeah, Wednesday.” Spencer nodded.

“Great!” You smiled. “It’s a date.”

“No!” Spencer quickly and somewhat loudly replied.

You furrowed your eyebrows and cocked your head to the side in confusion. “No?”

“No no, not like that. I’ll come with you, but it can’t be our first date.” Spencer explained quickly. “I’ve had so long to think about it and our first date can’t be so mundane.” You smiled to yourself knowing how not mundane Wednesday’s plans were, but you let him continue. “Wednesday night, we’ll have our first date then. If that’s okay with you, of course?”

“Of course it is.” You smiled. “I can’t wait for Wednesday.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this took me so long to post i truly feel so bad but ive been consuming so much spencer x reader that i felt like my writing was so shit it didnt even deserve to be published but anyways now that we're over that i hope you liked it!
> 
> next part isnt really an epilogue but its just cute spencer and reader stuff so no more team and what not but still very very cute and i havent written it yet but its not supposed to very long and ik exactly what im gonna write if any of u care. 
> 
> like always feedback is always appreciated
> 
> and like always, much love, jude


End file.
